Author: Eric Lindblom

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 106

ISBN-13:

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Tobacco farming has played an important role in this nation's history, dating back more than 200 years. Today tobacco growers face an uncertain future after years of declining tobacco leaf purchases and declining profitability -- trends that have already led to a dramatic decrease in the number of small, family-owned tobacco farms. The purpose of this report is to analyze these trends and the actions that have led to the current state of affairs. There are four central conclusions: 1. The American tobacco grower is facing increasingly hard times. In the 1950s there were more than 500,000 small family tobacco farms. Today there are fewer than 85,000, with a drop of more than 100,000 just since 1980. Purchases of U.S.-grown tobacco leaf are down, farming costs are up, prices are not keeping up with inflation, and grower profits have shrunk steadily. 2. The reduced purchases of U.S.-grown tobacco leaf have little to do with the gradual smoking declines in the United States. Instead, they are tied almost entirely to the decisions of the U.S. cigarette companies to manufacture more of their products overseas and to use more foreign-grown tobacco in the cigarettes that they make both here and abroad. Since 1980, the U.S. share of worldwide tobacco exports has been cut almost in half. Although American manufacturers are now selling more cigarettes than ever before, from 1997 to 1999 the U.S. cigarette companies reduced their purchases of American tobacco leaf for domestic cigarette manufacturing by roughly 35 percent. 3. While the interests of the American tobacco farmer and the American tobacco manufacturer were once the same, this is no longer true. The U.S. cigarette companies have chosen to maximize their profits by relying on less-expensive foreign labor and cheap foreign-grown tobacco while sacrificing the economic well-being of the American tobacco farmer. 4. If current trends continue, the worldwide sales and profits of the major American tobacco manufacturers will grow steadily, and family-owned tobacco farms in the United States will continue to disappear. Those that remain will face a difficult and uncertain future. Accordingly, U.S. tobacco growers have begun to explore new options and strategies and create new alliances with the public health community.

Download or read book False Friends written by Eric Lindblom and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tobacco farming has played an important role in this nation's history, dating back more than 200 years. Today tobacco growers face an uncertain future after years of declining tobacco leaf purchases and declining profitability -- trends that have already led to a dramatic decrease in the number of small, family-owned tobacco farms. The purpose of this report is to analyze these trends and the actions that have led to the current state of affairs. There are four central conclusions: 1. The American tobacco grower is facing increasingly hard times. In the 1950s there were more than 500,000 small family tobacco farms. Today there are fewer than 85,000, with a drop of more than 100,000 just since 1980. Purchases of U.S.-grown tobacco leaf are down, farming costs are up, prices are not keeping up with inflation, and grower profits have shrunk steadily. 2. The reduced purchases of U.S.-grown tobacco leaf have little to do with the gradual smoking declines in the United States. Instead, they are tied almost entirely to the decisions of the U.S. cigarette companies to manufacture more of their products overseas and to use more foreign-grown tobacco in the cigarettes that they make both here and abroad. Since 1980, the U.S. share of worldwide tobacco exports has been cut almost in half. Although American manufacturers are now selling more cigarettes than ever before, from 1997 to 1999 the U.S. cigarette companies reduced their purchases of American tobacco leaf for domestic cigarette manufacturing by roughly 35 percent. 3. While the interests of the American tobacco farmer and the American tobacco manufacturer were once the same, this is no longer true. The U.S. cigarette companies have chosen to maximize their profits by relying on less-expensive foreign labor and cheap foreign-grown tobacco while sacrificing the economic well-being of the American tobacco farmer. 4. If current trends continue, the worldwide sales and profits of the major American tobacco manufacturers will grow steadily, and family-owned tobacco farms in the United States will continue to disappear. Those that remain will face a difficult and uncertain future. Accordingly, U.S. tobacco growers have begun to explore new options and strategies and create new alliances with the public health community.